Starlink's Best Effort Service plans are for those who are on the waiting list for Starlink Residential and want to immediately start using a Starlink connection. Best Effort Service connections use the same Starlink hardware as Starlink Residential, but the service is deprioritized compared to Starlink Residential.
What is Best Effort? Starlink Best Effort is a service plan from Starlink that allows people in waitlisted areas to get Starlink service immediately, before their address is available for full Residential service.
While Starlink Residential means up to 100 Mbps download speeds, the newfangled Best Effort option offered exactly what is says on the tin - deprioritized satellite Internet connection, especially at peak hours - with maximum speeds of up to 50 Mbps.
PERFORMANCE. Starlink users typically experience download speeds between 25 and 220 Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100 Mbps. Upload speeds are typically between 5 and 20 Mbps.
The Best Effort tier currently offers(Opens in a new window) advertised download speeds from 5 to 50Mbps. In contrast, the standard residential tier offers speeds from 20 to 100Mbps.
This is caused by too many Starlink customers in your area trying to connect at the same time. Since there is limited bandwidth through the satellites, you are competing with other Starlink users for speed. You can test to see if your issue is network congestion by performing a speed test outside of peak hours.
Above 5% is where the real issues start. At this level, you will notice more frequent outages that last longer. With obstruction outages lasting several seconds, you might notice TV shows start to buffer. Online gaming and video calls will be problematic.
Check for Network Congestion
Starlink, despite being the company responsible for launching and maintaining the most number of satellites orbiting the Earth, still has miles to go to support its users. The issue mainly is the sheer number of users utilizing the service, causing a significant drop in speeds on average.
Luckily, Starlink makes it very easy to convert from one plan to another. You can change from Roam to Residential, Residential to Maritime, and so on.
You get unlimited standard data all month long for the plan's $90–$120 monthly price. That unlimited satellite internet does come with a small asterisk, though. Starlink may no longer have 1TB caps on its residential plan, but it does say it will slow your data if you use more than the average Starlink user.
They are two different services for different needs. Starlink Roam costs a bit more (and has slower speeds and lower high-speed data limits) than Starlink Residential. However, Starlink Roam allows users to take their internet access on the go, while Starlink Residential is assigned to a fixed home address.
IP networks are often described as "best effort" networks. This refers to the approach to service quality where the network itself does not actively differentiate in its treatment of services that transit the network. In a best effort IP network all IP packets are treated in the same fashion.
Based on the factors I outlined above, it is safe to say that Starlink satellite internet is good enough for gaming. The main factor is latency, or the time it takes for data to travel back and forth from the game server. Median Starlink latency is under 50 ms, while HughesNet and Viasat are over 10 times that number.
After using 1TB, customers could keep accessing the Internet at slower (but unspecified) speeds or pay $0.25 per gigabyte for "additional priority access." This was originally supposed to take effect in December, but Starlink delayed the change to February and then to April.
What Direction Should Starlink Dish Face? Mostly up. While the exact direction that a Starlink satellite dish should face will depend on where you are located, it will most likely need to be pointing somewhere between 15 and 35 degrees from being pointed straight up and angled to the north.
Fortunately, Starlink does provide users with a way to check and avoid obstructions through the Starlink app. The Check for Obstruction feature on the Starlink app (though not very reliable) might be your best bet at detecting and getting over obstructions in the path of the Starlink Dish.
The Starlink dish is self aligning, and doesn't require you to aim it. It will automatically tilt and spin to achieve the maximum signal from the satellites. The main concern for mounting the Starlink dish is obstructions.
The direction to point your Starlink dish will depend on where in the world you are located. However, for most northerners (those in the northern hemisphere), your Starlink dish should point north. Use your Starlink app to tell what direction the sky is completely clear.
Choose an open space: The Starlink antenna needs a clear line of sight with the sky in order to receive the best signal strength. Make sure to choose an open space that is free from any trees, buildings, and other obstructions.
How fast is Starlink internet in Australia? Satellite services don't display typical evening speed information like NBN services do. Starlink says download speeds should range between 20Mbps and 100Mbps, with a latency of 25ms to 50ms.
Does Starlink Throttle Speeds? Yes, Starlink will slow down speeds for Best Effort and Mobile plan customers. The bandwidth priority goes to Standard, Priority, and Mobile Priority users. Customers of the lower plan tiers might experience lower speeds in times of network congestion.
Starlink was designed to withstand rugged weather conditions, although it should be mentioned that a cloudy day may not necessarily affect Starlink, storm clouds could potentially, as they often create heavy rain, which may cause some signal interruptions.
But Musk points out the new dish has been designed to survive winds at over 174 miles per hour. For perspective, a category 5 hurricane can cause wind speeds to reach over 157mph. (Starlink's other high-performance dish can only withstand winds at over 50mph.)